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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. band — a music group
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. cold — not warm
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. season — in sport
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — temperature
  21. track — to keep track
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. mouse — for a computer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com